2nd Thursday of Lent, March 4. “Whoever comes to me”

For those who'd prefer to listen, here's the ling: https://youtu.be/kAcnMK-6HIk
Prepare to listen.  As you wait in silence, hear God’s words: Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.
 
Prayerfully Read John 6:35-40
35Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  36But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.  
37Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away;  38for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.  39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.  40This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.’
 
Prayerfully Wonder
The people had said, “give us this bread always” (v34), and Jesus answered,
       “I am the bread of life.
            Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and
            whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
 
Come to me, believe in me, said Jesus.  This invitation is a variation on the one with which we began Lent, come and see.  It takes us to the next level.  Eat this bread, which is Christ himself, and have life.  “The invitation [to eat] is without limit in its generosity.  But it is not coercive,” wrote Lesslie Newbigin [1].  It’s as if Jesus says to everyone, ‘Whoever you are, whatever state you’re in, commit yourself fully to me.’  There are no boundaries that would exclude some (such as the ones we don’t like).  There’s no force-feeding.  And there are no limits to what is promised--never be hungry; never be thirsty.
 
I’ll confess I still struggle with this.  I know it isn’t about physical thirst and hunger, but about spiritual.  But I also know that spiritual thirst and hunger still afflicts me.  I’ve learned that “God never fully satisfies in this world, but instead continually stretches our desire toward heaven,” as Ellen Davis once wrote [2].  So what did Jesus mean?  I’m not sure.  But what I do know is this: I know I must keep coming to Jesus, believing in him, trusting him to take care of the thirst and hunger that keeps drawing me towards him.  This gift of Jesus’ is for whoever comes to him.
 
Prayerfully Reflect
What caught your attention in these familiar words of Jesus?
 
Respond to Jesus
Whoever comes to you, Lord Jesus, is assured of unstinting generosity.  Strengthen my belief in you today, so that I keep returning to you to assuage my thirst and satisfy my hunger.  Amen.
 
Go live obediently in the world.  Let your hunger and thirst keep leading you to Jesus.

[1] Lesslie Newbigin, The Light Has Come.  1982, p. 81.
[2] Ellen Davis, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs.  2000, p. 302